His Bird of Luck
by bridepride
Summary: "There are wounds that do not bleed, wounds of the heart. There are times when those hurts never heal and go away, but if you want them to stop aching you need another person to heal it for you. Gaara, you need love." When she believes love to be an illusion and he believes it to be something more than that, who will break first? Or, could it lead to something greater? Gaara X OC.
1. What is love?

"There are wounds that do not bleed… wounds of the heart… There are times when those hurts never heal and go away, but if you want them to stop aching you need another person to heal it for you… Gaara, you need love."

But, what is love? How do you get it? Who gives it to you?

Gaara gazed at his hands, his pale skin standing out in the darkness of the night that surrounded him. The stars high above his head twinkled in the night sky, as Gaara tilted his head upwards to look at them. While he contemplated each question in turn, a gust of wind rustled the red hair on his head, causing him to shiver, at the same time as pulling him out of his thoughts. However, it wasn't long until the Jinchuuriki was immersed in those questions again. As he continued to contemplate and debate in his mind, the night grew colder and, strangely, the scent stagnant water wafted through the air, reaching his nostrils. He stood before a small, cloudy body of water, gazing down at his reflection, he saw a pale and emotionless boy staring back at him. His turquoise eyes held an icy gaze that would freeze even the warmest of deserts and his lips held no sign of a smile or a scowl. What stood out most about him was the red kanji character for love etched into his forehead.

He kneeled and reached his hand down towards the water, causing a fingertip to lightly touch the small body of water, immediately sending ripples through it, distorting the image of his face.

"Is it possible for something to happen to shake this image of myself, like these ripples?" He mumbled to himself, then stood up, watching the ripples get smaller and smaller, "even if it did, it always go back to what it was before," he shook his head and turned to make his way back to his house through the sandy streets of Sunagakure.

"Gaara, I've been looking for you. Temari hit me with her fan because you weren't home when you said you'd be," Kankuro grumbled, standing in front of him and rubbing the side of his head. Gaara showed no sign of a smile.

"Let's go," he said simply, deciding to walk instead of going on his sand, whilst walking towards Kankuro. Kankuro stared quizzically at him, but then nodded and started walking with him. Aside from the the wind howling in their ears and the shouts of villagers that were still out and about, the two walked in a comfortable silence, both immersed in their own thoughts. However, suddenly, Gaara broke the silence.

"Kankuro," he said, causing his older brother to turn his head to look at him, as they continued walking. Once he had spoken, the wind stopped howling; it was as if the whole world was holding its breath to hear what he had to say. All that could be heard was the crunch of sand underneath the two brothers' feet, as they continued to walk onward.

Out of the corner of his eye, Gaara watched a son falling to the floor in fatigue and start crying. His father, who was walking beside him, stopped and turned around, giving his son a smile, then picking him and putting him on his shoulders. The son immediately cheered up, causing the father to laugh and continue walking onwards.

"Hm?" Kankuro asked, stealing Gaara's attention. He ripped his eyes away from the scene and looked at his older brother.

"What is love?" He asked.

-/-/-/-/-/-

"Love can not be defined, because it's different for everyone. However, the factor that does define it is the person or people you love. Love is wanting them happy, wanting them safe and it is unconditional. Love is wanting to protect them, their happiness and the things they find important. Love doesn't waver or fail, because it's the strongest force in the universe," her six year old self's sensei told his pupils passionately. The small boys and girls before him stared at him in awe.

The sun shone through the large, open windows of the classroom and a light breeze flew into the room, gently rustling the leaves of the tree outside on its way in. The scent of clean classrooms hung in the air.

"So, what do you love, sensei?" A boy with bright, innocent blue eyes asked, tilting his head to the side, showing his curiosity.

The sensei smiled widely.

"Me? Well, I love my village and all the people that live in it, that's why I'm a shinobi; to protect what I love," he answered proudly, grabbing his forehead protector to prove his point.

At this, murmurs started around the room, all talking about the subject of love.

"I'm going to become really strong to protect my mummy and daddy!"

"Yeah? Well, I'm going to be really strong and protect all the mummies and daddies in Konoha!"

"Well, I'm going to protect all the mummies and daddies in the whole world!"

The two boys now began fighting with each other, trying to prove their strength. The sensei laughed and walked to their desks, grabbing the two boys from the back of their shirts, like a cat would pick up its kittens, and lifting them in the air for the rest of the class to see. The two boys' faces portrayed dismay, in the form of pouting, at the fact they were being embarrassed in front if their whole class.

"This is what I want to see," he laughed, seeing the surprise on the two boys' faces, "I want you all to have the will to protect what you love. I want you all to not just dream of it, but to do it! Train hard and get stronger to protect what is important to you!"

As the class erupted in a cacophony of cheers, no one noticed the small, silver-haired girl shrouded in shadow, that was sitting at the back of the classroom, scowling at everything and everyone. Her blood red eyes glimmered in the morning light; if it wasn't for the scowl on her lips, she wouldn't have looked like an enraged dragon.

-/-/-/-/-/-

Ten years later, the kunoichi sat in a tree and reminisced on the memory. A small smile played on her lips as she remembered her cynical six year old self.

It had been six long years, she thought to herself. Six years of being imprisoned, tortured and experimented on by Orochimaru. From the moment she was born, she was ripped from the arms of her parents, who were then killed, to be a guinea pig of his. But he had made a huge mistake, because he had given her more power than he had intended. And she hated it. However, with this power, she had escaped and, with the help of village people and shinobi alike, she had somehow managed to find her way back to Konoha. But, instead of welcoming her with open arms, many shunned her, while others feared her, because they knew she was abnormal. A freak of nature.

He had named her Kotori; bird of luck (however, many just called her Kuro, she didn't know why). When she had survived four years in his laboratory, telling her not many had lived past a year. She wished she had been one of them. Upon returning to Konoha, she had asked around about her parents and found they were, in fact, ordinary civilians and, at that moment, she had decided she would not die like them. She would become a shinobi and train to become stronger and stronger in order for her not to be pathetically massacred, like her parents.

She shook her head, not wishing to delve into such dark things. Instead, she thought about her first day back at school and the topic of love that had strangely come up while her sensei was on one of his tangents. She knew differently to him and everyone else. Love was an illusion. One created for those that were afraid of being alone. For someone like her that had always been alone, she did not fall into the illusion and, as long as she didn't, she would remain stronger than those that did. She might not have been a Jinchuuriki, but she didn't need to be. She was hated and feared, all because of this cursed power she possessed as a result of his experiments on her. At first, she had wanted revenge, but had given up on it, simply because she wasn't bothered to. Nothing motivated her mind. Nothing touched her heart. Nothing moved her soul. She might as well have been dead. So, why wasn't she? Because, she needed to find her purpose and that was why she lived. She had wasted enough time regretting the past; she had to move on, do something, find her place in this cursed world, even if it meant using her loathsome powers. She knew every shinobi would die to have what she did, but she didn't want it. Because it was just a reminder that it wasn't her own; she wasn't anything special.

"The truth is always difficult to digest," she murmured.


	2. Mission: Ishigakure

Kotori marched right into the Hokage's office, without knocking, to find Tsunade-sama sitting behind her desk as usual and Shizune standing beside her, holding her pet pig.

"I heard you had a mission for me," Kotori stated bluntly. Tsunade-sama held her usual glare, but nodded. Suddenly, a knock on the door was heard and an ANBU member with a tiger-style mask on entered. Judging from the ANBU's body type, Kotori guessed he was male. Following after the ANBU member was none other than the Copy Ninja himself, Kakashi Hatake, and behind him was the medical kunoichi, Sakura Haruno.

"Yo, Kuro-chan," Kakashi uttered, sticking his index and middle finger up in the air, as a sign of greeting.

"Kakashi-sensei," Kotori smiled slightly, in acknowledgement.

"Konbanwa, Kuro-san," Sakura said politely, smiling kindly at her.

"Konbanwa, Sakura-san," Kotori replied, as emotionlessly as before, but not unkindly.

The ANBU member nodded in acknowledgement, her nodding back.

"I will give you your mission now," Tsunade-sama stated, "you will go to Ishigakure, located between the Wind Country and the Earth Country to gather information on recent disturbances there. The most recent one being a group of rouge shinobi attacking the village. Remember, this is an A-rank mission, so be careful. The rouge shinobi may still be there or plan on attacking again soon. You will leave in about five hours and it will take about three days to get there. You're all rank chuunin, or higher, so you can take care of yourselves; don't make any rash decisions and try to avoid confrontation, unless necessary. Kakashi, you will be in charge of this mission. Dismissed," Tsunade-sama spoke with authority, not pausing in her speech. Once she was done, all except Kotori bowed. Then, they all left the office, in reverse order they had come in.

"What a quick dismissal," Kotori murmured to herself.

"Well, it was just a briefing," Kakashi replied in his lazy yet friendly tone, without turning around.

"I guess," she said simply, while the group of four made their way down the stairs of the Hokage tower.

The sun shone brightly, like most days in Konohagakure, and a light breeze drifted through the air, making the heat of the sun bearable. The sound of children laughing and shouting could be heard throughout the village and the scent of freshly-made food wafted through the many streets of Konoha.

"So, Kuro-chan, I don't believe I know what rank you are," Kakashi said, out of the blue, slowing down to walk next to her. Sakura turned her head slightly, listening in on the conversation.

"Just a chuunin," Kotori replied, not meaning to be so curt.

"Only? I thought you'd be a jounin by now, Kuro-chaan," Kakashi said lazily.

"I could've been," she replied, abruptly stopping herself, before she said anymore.

-/-/-/-/-/-

Several hours later, the group of shinobi flitted from tree to tree, trying to get to their location as swiftly as possible. The ANBU member lead, followed by Kotori, then Sakura and Kakashi bringing the rear.

The sun peeped through the gaps in the leaves and the deep, musky scent of the forest surrounded them, making Kotori feel at ease. Birds chirped in the trees and insects of different colours and kinds scuttled on the ground and the trunks of trees. Underneath her black shinobi mask, that hid the bottom part of her face, she let herself smile widely.

-/-/-/-/-/-

"Gaara, Temari, Kankuro, you're dismissed," a council member stated.

The group of three left the Kazekage building to prepare for their mission to Ishigakure. They were not informed that there would be Konoha shinobi there as well.

-/-/-/-/-/-

"Kuro-san, why do you wear a mask like Kakashi-sensei on missions?" Sakura asked her curiously from behind her. Kotori turned her head slightly to look at her, her smile erased from her face, even though Sakura could not tell. Then, she turned back around.

"It's simple, really, I don't want the enemy to know my feelings in battle," she replied, not faltering in her leaps, "if they did, they have the advantage, because they can use it against me," she added.

Suddenly, the ANBU member stopped and stood on a large branch, almost making Kotori bump into him. At the last second, she managed to manoeuvre slightly to the right while in midair, allowing her to land next to the ANBU member. Sakura and Kakashi landed in front of the two a few seconds later.

"It'll be night soon," the ANBU member stated. Kotori realised it was the first time she had heard him speak. He had a fairly deep voice that was slightly harsh and scratchy, as if he wasn't used to speaking a lot. Kakashi nodded at his words.

"We'll set up camp for tonight, then continue in the morning. We'll also take shifts for watch, Kuro-chan, you can go first, followed by...ano...what's your name for this mission?" Kakashi asked the ANBU member, whilst scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

"Hiroshi," he replied.

"Right, Hiroshi will take the second watch, I'll take the third and Sakura-chan, you'll be taking the last. I was told how much you value sleep, Kuro-chan, as does Sakura-chan; I hope this suits everyone," Kakashi said with his eyes closed, indicating he was smiling, "yosh, let's find a place to set up camp."

"Hai," the other three said in unison.

The group of shinobi jumped down from the tree and, within an hour had found and set up camp for the night. As the two men and one woman set up their sleeping bags, Kotori watched the sun go down from high up in a tree. She could feel the warmth of it on her skin and clothes; since she was fully dressed in black, the heat was absorbed even more. As the sun set, the sky went from a yellowish-orange hue to a pinkish-orange one, until night fell and Kotori was surrounded by the dark blue night sky. She stared up at the twinkling stars and the waning moon, letting her mind wander. In the distance an owl hooted and many crickets chirped.

-/-/-/-/-/-

"Kuro-san, it's time to go," Sakura spoke quietly, shaking her shoulder gently. Kotori rolled onto her back, realising she had slept on her arm too long, but nodded and got out of her sleeping bag.

"Ohaiyo, Kuro-chan!" Kakashi called from a small distance away.

"Ohaiyo, Kakashi-sensei," Kotori said groggily.

As she got up, her arm started throbbing, so Kotori stood beside her sleeping bag, awkwardly rubbing it.

"Kuro-chan, what are you doing?" Kakashi asked, staring curiously at her.

"My arm is numb," she replied simply.

-/-/-/-/-/-

Once they were settled for the night again, several hours away from their destination, Kakashi stood before the three.

"I want you all to remember that from tomorrow, things will get difficult. If these rogue shinobi were able to wipe out a whole village, it's safe to assume they're strong, so don't underestimate them and make sure you remember the most important principle: teamwork. Yosh, oyasumi, mina," Kakashi said, wishing them good night in a carefree tone.

After everyone said good night to each other, Kotori went and sat in a tree close to the campsite and took first watch again, the moon already high in the sky.

A few hours into the night, with only the owls, crickets and the moon for company, Kotori heard a scuffling of feet. No matter how hushed the sound was, she knew she heard it. She silently got out of the tree, lurking in the shadows and tried to pinpoint where the sound had come from.

She watched as a small sliver of sand started surrounding the sleeping Hiroshi. Her eyes widened when she saw it starting to form a sort-of cocoon around him.

"Kuso," she cursed, immediately forming water element hand seals, "Suiton: Taihōdan!"

Immediately, a large jet stream of water came out of her mouth, headed straight for the sand, engulfing it and making it heavier and heavier, causing the sand to fall on top of and around Hiroshi. By that time, he, as well as the other two had been disturbed enough to awaken. Most of the large mass of water dissolved into the sand and ground, while the excess formed fairly large puddles near and around the standing shinobi, Sakura unintentionally standing in one.

Kotori waited in the darkness, to see what the other side would do, her body tense, waiting for the enemy to make their move.

"That was quite impressive," she heard a female voice from behind. Out of instinct, she ducked and then jumped to the left, seeing an immensely large fireball skim past her head, singeing her hair as it passed. It now headed in the direction of her team mates. Since they were focusing on the enemy in front of them, they didn't see it coming.

"Fuck," Kotori cursed again, forming earth hand seals, "Doton: Otoshibuta!"

A large lid with a boar design on the top of it formed in the air. Within an instant, it came hurtling down to land in front of her team, trapping the large fireball inside it.

Before Kotori could sigh in relief, she sensed a force coming towards her head. Without turning around, Kotori grabbed the woman's leg and swung her around, making her land sprawling in front of her. She wore a plain black cloak with the hood up, hiding her face and her clothes underneath it.

"Oh, it seems you're quite strong," the woman chuckled.

"Go to hell," Kotori said monotonously, forming water hand seals, "Sensatsu Suishō!"

The moisture around them started forming many small, sharp needles made out of water. They surrounded the woman and flew towards her. The woman smirked and jumped into the air, the needles failing to hit her. As she descended down, she formed fire hand seals.

"Katon: Hibashiri!" She shouted, a stream of fire escaped her mouth, encircling Kotori.

Kotori's eyes narrowed at the woman, as she landed. She felt the heat prick her skin and knew she had to think of a way out soon. She bit her lip, her eyebrows furrowed in thought, then smirked, forming water hand seals again.

"Suiton: Taihōdan!"

A jet stream of water escaped from her mouth. She turned 360 degrees, putting the fire out with her water jutsu. Instead of stopping the jutsu, she aimed at the woman. Surprised, the woman did not have time to manoeuvre, so got hit by the jutsu, making her fall down, choking on water. Kotori walked towards her, until she stood in front of her, the woman, having already pulled her hood up so her identity remained a secret.

"I suppose you want to know who I am?" The woman spoke, smirking.

"Nope," Kotori replied, hitting the ground with her fist. A large pit in the earth was formed, the woman in it. Kotori walked towards the edge of the pit, staring down at the woman in it, "you will die now. Do you have any requests, aside from sparing your life?" She asked monotonously.

The woman stared up at Kotori, her eyes wide in fear, but Kotori could not see this, since the woman's hood still covered most of her face.

"W-wait," the woman spluttered, "do you really want to kill your own mother?" She asked slyly, her smirk back.

"My mother is dead," Kotori replied without hesitation, "she died in front of my eyes. Your time is up. Now you die," she said, Kotori tilted her head upwards to face the sky, whilst forming fire hand seals, " Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"

A large fireball escaped her lips, sent upwards into the clouds. Kotori watched it disappear, then continued staring upwards into the sky.

The woman laughed loudly.

"And how do you intend on killing me with that?" She asked, chuckling.

Kotori continued watching the clouds, ignoring the woman. Suddenly, the sound of thunder could be heard. Kotori smirked.

"I would normally form this out of my own chakra, but I really don't like you," she said, while she formed lightning hand seals, the woman's eyes widened, realising what was happening. Kotori lifted her hand in the air, thunder rumbling the skies. Lightning flashed onto her hand, her directing it towards the woman. She didn't have the time to scream, as the natural lightning obliterated her body, only leaving behind the ashes, "raikiri," Kotori murmured.

As soon as the jutsu had been executed, the thunderclouds immediately cleared, allowing Kotori to see the moon gleaming and the stars twinkling high above her head. It was only then, that the stench of the ashes reached Kotori's nostrils, causing her to scrunch her nose up. She walked towards her team, but stopped when she saw Sakura and Kakashi staring wide-eyed at her. Kakashi relaxed after a few seconds and walked towards her, Sakura still in shock from what she had seen.

"So, this is the famed power I've heard much about," Kakashi uttered, his Sharingan eye closed, "I have to say, I'm pretty jealous," he said lazily, "to be able to use all five...?"

Kotori nodded.

"All five of the elements and a chakra limit that's so large, it's almost nonexistent, well..." He trailed off.

"It's not mine," she muttered darkly, "it wasn't supposed to be. I just got it by coincidence."

Kakashi observed her carefully, then closed his eyes, indicating he was smiling. He ruffled her hair, causing her to give him a look that told him she was unamused, to which he laughed and continued ruffling her hair. Suddenly, he stopped and looked her dead in the eye.

"It doesn't matter if it's not yours, or if it was just a coincidence, remember that it's what you do with it that's important. You might have gotten it through testing and torture, but you have it and many shinobi would want to have what you do; be grateful for what you have, even though the means of getting it were wrong," Kakashi uttered seriously.

Kotori stared at the floor, but nodded.

"I understand," she murmured.

"You know," Kakashi uttered, causing her to stare at him, "with your silver hair, anyone would think we're related," he mused, not looking at her, but up at the dark clouds.

"I guess," she said awkwardly, not knowing what else to say. Kakashi turned his head to stare at her, closing his eyes, portraying he was smiling.

"Where's Hiroshi?" Kotori asked, looking around for him. At the mention of the ANBU member, Kakashi's smile dropped, him shaking his head, "I see," she murmured.

"He was killed by an earth jutsu, Sakura did what she could, but..." He trailed off. Kotori nodded, "there were three people that attacked us, aside from the one you killed, once they saw your lightning jutsu, they ran away."

Kotori nodded again.

"You two should head back to Konoha, I'll catch up with you guys," she said.

"What will you do?" Sakura asked, walking up to them.

"Well, Ishigakure isn't that far away from here; I can make it by morning, I'm just going to check exactly how much damage the village took and if there are more shinobi that are going to attack. I won't engage in battle if there are, unless I have to. So, Captain Kakashi, is that okay?"

"I should go, the two of you should head back to Konoha," he replied immediately. Kotori shook her head.

"Not possible, neither Sakura or I can carry Hiroshi. Plus, Sakura's a medical nin, so, no offence, but she wouldn't have as much combat experience as me, if the need for it comes up," she said.

Kakashi stayed silent for a while, contemplating and debating all the worst case scenarios.

"I can take care of myself, Kakashi-sensei, as you witnessed, plus, our mission was to go to Ishigakure," Kotori muttered.

He looked at her and closed his eyes, indicating he was smiling.

"If you get hurt, remember Sunagakure is near to Ishigakure. They're Konoha's allies, so stay there for a while, if it does happen,"

"I'm untouchable," Kotori smirked, "yosh, I'll be going now, see you guys in Konoha!"

"Ja ne!" Sakura shouted, as Kotori started running already. Kotori waved a hand in the air without turning around in acknowledgement.

"Ki o tsukete!" Kakashi shouted, but Kotori was already out of ears' reach.

-/-/-/-/-/-

The sun creeped up the sky, slowly lighting the burnt down houses in Ishigakure. Kotori stood in a tree, analysing the layout as well as the destruction that had taken place. She jumped down from a tree and walked into the village, looking for any survivors.

All the buildings were either run down or completely destroyed and the stench of death hung in the air, making it seem the village had faced a large-scale war.

"Kuso," Kotori murmured. Out of the corners of her eyes, she saw people dressed in dirty rags hiding behind the run-down buildings and peeping out of the broken windows to see who the stranger was. Suddenly, she felt the presence of a person behind her, so she turned around.

A boy, no older than herself, stood before her. His arms were crossed and he carried a large gourd on his back. She wasn't sure whether his icy turquoise blue eyes were surrounded with eyeliner or dark circles due to lack of sleep, and his lips didn't frown or smile. Like her own, Kotori noted. What she was drawn to, however, was the character on the left side of his forehead reading love, which made Kotori roll her eyes. Another one of those fools who've fallen into the illusion, she thought.

"Who are you?" He asked monotonously.


	3. Blood and Poison

"I could ask you the same question," Kotori murmured.

Gaara observed the small girl in front of him. Her silver hair shone in a strange way in the morning light and her dark blood red eyes smouldered, as if she were angry. Her lips were set in a straight line, no evident sign of a smile or frown and her small, bony fingers held a kunai, poised to throw or defend; her body tensed, expecting battle.

"Who are you?" Gaara asked again, as monotonously as before.

"Go to hell," She stated indifferently, staring back into his icy eyes with her smouldering red ones. The two stared at each other, both stubbornly not looking away, but both wondering and anticipating what the other would do.

Suddenly, Kotori turned around and sprinted, hoping to run away, before she had to fight, not because she was afraid of him, simply because she couldn't be bothered to.

She ran back to where the tree she had stood on was, hoping to lose him in the forest that lay beyond, but before she could jump into the tree, something grainy, yet firm wrapped around her ankle, pulling her upside-down as she hung in midair. The boy walked towards her, in no rush to collect his prisoner. Kotori realised that what had wrapped around her foot was, in fact, sand. Recognising it as one of the enemies' jutsu, she stared at the boy approaching, wondering why on earth he was in a group that had attacked and slaughtered a village.

"I'll ask you again," he said emotionlessly, standing right in front of her, "who are you and what are you doing here?"

"You asked a second question that you didn't ask before," Kotori commented, unfazed by her position. Gaara stared at her, indifferent to what she had said, waiting for her to answer, "besides, why would I want to make my identity known to enemy shinobi, shinobi that killed one of my teammates?"

"So, you're from the group of rogue shinobi," he stated, not asked.

"Don't fake innocence, son, you're in that group of shinobi, so you should know that I'm not. You fought us. You know? The shinobi from Konoha? Yeah, I was in that team, now let me go. Unless you want me to kill you," she murmured. A small smile played on Gaara's lips, so small, that Kotori didn't realise he was smiling.

"You can't kill me," he stated. Kotori rolled her eyes, "anyway, we would have been told that Konoha shinobi were coming here, because we're allies; you're lying."

"It's not a lie," she murmured, forming air hand seals, "you attacked us and now you're pretending you didn't. The person you killed wasn't any concern of mine, so I won't avenge him, or whatever, but, since you did kill a Konoha ninja, you'll have to answer to Tsunade-sama. I'll save her the trouble, though, I'll kill you right here,"

Suddenly, Kotori's body seemed to disappear. Gaara narrowed his eyes, his sand suspended in the air, waiting to find its prey.

"Like I said," she whispered in his ear from behind, "you will die," she brought her kunai up to his throat. Gaara's eyes widened, realising she had executed a wind replacement and snuck up behind him, "ja, sayonara," she whispered, driving the kunai into his neck.

She waited for the scream and the spray of blood that never came. Instead, she watched as a layer of sand appeared on his skin, stopping the kunai from piercing him. The monotonous expression was present on his face again, as the sand encased her arm in a strangely ticklish, yet firm, way. Without one of her arms, she wasn't able to execute any jutsu and she wasn't particularly strong to break free from it, since she guessed it was some special sort of sand. Thinking on her feet, she immediately took out explosive tags, throwing them on the sand above her arm and on him.

As they exploded, she ripped her arm from the sand, finding blood rapidly flowing out of it. As it travelled down her arm, the fabric of what she was wearing started sticking to her skin, her blood glueing the two together, as it dried. Finding it bothersome, she ripped the fabric off her skin, feeling some of her tissue get separated along with the fabric. Ignoring the pain, she formed fire hand seals.

"Katon: Goukakyuu No Jutsu," she shouted. A stream of fire escaped her lips, her aiming at the boy standing slightly further away from her, due to his evading the explosive tags. She saw that his skin had strangely cracked and crumbled, causing her to furrow her eyebrows in confusion, as the flames engulfed him.

Once she was done, she watched in fascination, as his skin crumbled and cracked, falling to the ground. What she expected to find was flesh underneath, but instead, saw nothing but hollow, black emptiness.

"What the fuck," she murmured.

The boy's sand shot towards her, him standing indifferently, with his arms crossed, watching the scene play before him. Kotori dodged the sand, throwing kunai with explosive tags on the moving force, however, no matter how much the sand exploded, it immediately reformed again, still edging towards her, gradually, gradually getting closer.

Kotori gasped, feeling something sharp lodge into her neck, she pulled it out, whilst still dodging the attacks of the sand. Glistening, red blood trickled out of her neck, making her skin sticky. It trickled into her clothes, causing her to feel discomfort and made her hair stick to her neck.

Suddenly, Kotori stumbled onto the floor, with no clear indication as to why; there was nothing around her that would have caused her to fall and, she was far too advanced a kunoichi to make such a simple mistake as that. However, doubt filled her mind; perhaps she really did fall by accident, she thought, attempting to get up, but realising she had lost feeling in her legs.

She glanced at the shuriken that had pierced her neck, whilst throwing another kunai with an explosive tag at the approaching sand to buy her time. Kotori immediately realised that the shuriken had poison on it. Purple liquid, mixed with her blood, dripped from the shuriken onto the dusty floor. Kotori immediately dropped the shuriken.

"Kuso," she cursed quietly, feeling the effects of the poison intensify.

Because she couldn't run away, she sat still, waiting for the sand to reach her. Within a second, it was upon her, like a dragon, eagerly wrapping around her body tightly and lifting her up into the air. The boy approached her, as she lost feeling in her arms. She groaned in annoyance, still feeling blood escape from her neck and arm, the only feeling she felt there now.

"If you really are from Konoha, where's your hitai-ate?" He asked in his bored, uncaring tone.

Kotori sighed, falling limp against the sand, she couldn't even look at him anymore; all feeling was lost in her body.

"I don't wear it," she replied, her voice barely above a whisper.

Gaara gazed are the girl in front of him, wondering why she was acting so strangely and not in the way she had before. It was taking all his self control not to allow Shukaku to kill her and he didn't really care if he did, but he had to keep her prisoner so questions could be answered.

"Then, I have no reason to believe you," he stated in his monotone. A quiet, harsh scoff escaped her mouth.

"Don't believe me," she said, her voice still barely above a whisper. Pain had started flowing through her body, as if she were being stabbed multiple times with a blunt kunai with great force behind it. She gasped as another wave of pain hit her; she had already come to terms with the fact she was going to die, but decided, what was the harm in making this guy's life more difficult, "I can't fight anymore," she confessed, "you can kill me."

Gaara observed her; deciding that, from her behaviour, she was in pain and could not move. However, it still came as a mild surprise to him when she disappeared again. But, he immediately relaxed when he saw her lying down on her back, her face looking up at the sky. Blood now gushed from her neck. As her hair was pooled around her head, it seeped into it, making strands glue together. The blood stained her silver hair, causing it to glimmer a murky shade of red, as the stain became larger and larger.

"I hope...this...poison...kills me...before you...do. I still...wonder...how...you...managed...to distract...me...so...easily," she whispered, pausing each time a spasm of pain hit her. A choked gasp escaped from her lips, as she gradually and quietly descended into unconsciousness, and her death beyond. All the while, the boy's sand wrapped around her, while he wondered who had poisoned her.

Gaara decided he wouldn't kill her; she would die anyway, so he just tightly wrapped the sand around her again.

"Gaara! Wait!" He heard a male voice shout from a distance. He saw Kakashi and Sakura running towards him, the teacher carrying someone on his shoulders, "don't kill her," Kakashi said, once he reached him.

"Who is she?" Gaara asked indifferently.

"She's a Konoha kunoichi, she's on our team," Kakashi informed, "we were attacked by shinobi, who we guessed, were the ones to attack this village. They killed one of our teammates, so she said she'd go on to check on the village, while we go home to Konoha to give Hiroshi a proper burial. When she'd left, we checked the body of the person she killed-"

"Oi! Gaara!" A voice from a distance shouted. Temari and Kankuro ran towards their younger sibling, "the body's not there," Kankuro said.

"Did you have to fight too?" Kakashi asked.

"One of them killed one of ours and we killed one of theirs," Gaara confirmed.

"What was weird was the one who killed our shinobi used about four elements. Not even Gaara could've taken him on and won," Temari said, scowling.

"Did you see his face?" Kakashi asked, feeling the scenario worryingly similar.

Kankuro shook his head

"W-" He started.

"Guys, I don't mean to change the subject, but Kuro-san needs medical attention immediately. She's been poisoned," Sakura said, lifting Kotori's limp head, as she continued being held in mid-air by Gaara's sand.

"You poisoned her?" Kakashi asked, turning to face Gaara, "I didn't think you were the type to use poison."

"I didn't," Gaara replied, "I can take her to Sunagakure ahead of you, she might already be dead, so I should go now."

Kakashi nodded.

"See you in Suna," he said, watching Gaara be lifted up by his sand, Kotori hanging limp beside him, wrapped up in his sand.

-/-/-/-/-/-

Darkness surrounded Kotori, but she could still hear everyone talking.

"...needs to be done now..."

"...spreading too fast..."

"...don't have much time..."

"...incurable poison..."

"...surprised she's not dead yet..."

She couldn't concentrate on what was being said; a familiar pain had settled in her body. Pain she had thought she'd long forgotten, as she'd only felt such everyday as a child. She sighed inwardly. All her training had been for nothing. She never wanted to feel this pain again; that was why she trained, why she was a kunoichi, why she pushed herself to her absolute limits.

Kotori screamed and shot up, the people around her pushing her body down onto the bed again. Her eyes were closed, nonetheless colourful words escaped her mouth, making the medical ninja surrounding her shocked to hear such foul language. However, no matter how much she screamed and writhed, the operation continued.

After hours and hours of relentless agony, Kotori drifted into welcoming unconsciousness again.

-/-/-/-/-/-

"...so, we were made to fight each other, because we looked like the enemy shinobi. That would explain the missing bodies; they take the form of our comrades. We went after Kuro-chan immediately, once we found no trace of the body," she heard Kakashi say in his lazy, but serious tone.

"And the poison?" An uncaring male voice, which Kotori couldn't recognise, asked.

"It's safe to say that it was the enemy as well," Kakashi replied.

Kotori stopped listening after that and decided to sit up, but only managed to make her head spin and throb painfully. She fell back down onto the clean, white bed, before realising she had no idea where she was.

Sun flooded through the open window to her right, showing the sandy streets below and the heat in the room was almost unbearable, even though the window was open. Kotori sighed, staring up at the plain white ceiling. A small bedside table stood to her left, which had a bouquet of a variety of colourful flowers, a translucent jug of water that was almost full, a packet of hard boiled sweets and her shinobi mask.

Without getting up, Kotori grabbed the pack of sweets and took one out, popping it into her mouth and sucking on it. Her face scrunched up, not used to the sourness of the sweet.

"It wasn't my choice of sweets," she heard a male voice say. Kotori stared in front of her to see the red haired boy she had fought.

"Considering I'm not dead, I can only guess you want something from me, or our fight was because of a misunderstanding," she murmured, ignoring his comment.

Gaara opened his mouth to speak, but got interrupted by Kakashi and Sakura entering the room.

"Yo, Kuro-chan," Kakashi said in his carefree and lazy tone.

"Kakashi-sensei," Kotori acknowledged.

"Are you feeling better, Kuro-san?" Sakura asked politely.

"I'm not dead, so yeah, I guess," Kotori replied, staring up at the ceiling. Gaara's lips twitched upwards at her words.

Sakura deadpanned, not knowing how to reply to that comment.

"Well, I suppose you should thank Sakura for saving your life, since she did carry out the operation," Kakashi mused.

"Thank you, Sakura-san," Kotori said, almost automatically.

"There's nothing to thank me for. Kakashi-sensei, you're being silly. We're friends, after all," Sakura replied warmly, closing her eyes and smiling at her.

"Friends, huh?" Kotori murmured. Sakura nodded her head, a comfortable silence falling on the four people in the room.

"Ja, Kuro-chan, we need to get back to Konoha and, since you're in no fit state to travel, we're going to have to leave you here and have someone escort you back," Kakashi stated seriously.

"I don't need an escort," Kotori replied immediately.

"But you should be able to see the need for it. That poison is new; we don't know what side effects there are to it," the red-haired boy spoke up, in his unamused tone that never seemed to change.

Kotori sighed, staring up at the ceiling, then nodded.

"Right," she murmured.

"We'll be leaving now, then. Tsunade-sama will want to know about what happened," Kakashi said. Kotori nodded.

"See you guys in Konoha," she murmured.

After they exchanged goodbyes, the Jounin and medical nin left the room, allowing an awkward silence to enter. Kotori continued staring up at the ceiling, letting her mind wander, however, her thoughts were disrupted by the red-haired boy suddenly speaking.

"You give up easily," he noted.

"I don't see why I should try," she replied, "besides, the situation was obvious. I was going to die; hoping otherwise would have been stupid."

"Yet, you're still alive," Gaara said, a hint of a smile present on his lips.

"Just by chance," she replied.

"Why didn't you use all the elements when fighting me? You could've won," he stated in the same monotone. Kotori stayed silent, not wanting to tell him the true reason. How could she? What if they fought again? He'd know how to defeat her; she couldn't tell him.

"I just didn't want to," she replied finally.

"Instead of lying, you could say you don't want to tell me. I won't kill you," he stated, as emotionless as ever. Kotori smiled drily.

"The irony," she murmured. A smile seemed to graze his lips, but immediately went away, "what's your name, oh strange red-haired boy?"

Gaara stared at her with mild curiosity, before replying.

"Gaara,"

Kotori nodded.

"Kotori," she said simply.

"Are you and Kakashi related?" He asked emotionlessly.

"You'd think so, right? We both have silver hair, we both wear shinobi masks and he has one red eye, that being the sharingan, and I got my red eyes because of experimentation," she mused, "but, no, we're not related."

Gaara nodded.

"He thinks highly of you," he stated.

"He doesn't know me very well. I'd kill him and every single person in Konoha, just to satisfy a whim I'd get," she murmured.

"You only live for yourself, then," Gaara stated, not asked. Kotori still hadn't looked at him properly, and she didn't intend to.

"Correct. Why live for anyone else?" She mused, continuing to stare at the ceiling.

"I used to think that, but then I came across someone. He was really strong and I didn't know why or how. He told me he fought for his friends; to keep them safe, to protect them. I still don't understand it completely, but I now fight for those important to me," Gaara told her, feeling she was how he used to be and wanting her to change. Strangely, Kotori found herself thinking of her six-year-old's sensei's words, then scoffed. If Gaara was surprised by her reaction, he didn't show it.

"You're talking about love, aren't you," She stated, not asked.

"I don't really understand it particularly. No one seems to be able to explain what love is. Everyone has a different answer," Gaara said monotonously. Again, Kotori's mind drifted to what her sensei had said, but she shook herself out of her thoughts.

"I'll tell you what love is," she murmured emotionlessly, "it's the most accurate description you'll get."

Gaara remained silent, waiting for her to continue.

"Love is a form of genjutsu that everyone seems to be able to do. Those who fall into it are weak and stupid, because its the simplest genjutsu anyone can fall into. Save yourself and stay away from anyone who says they love you. They've already fallen into the illusion," she murmured coolly.

"And, you've never loved?"

Kotori shook her head.

"Of course not," she murmured amusedly, "I'm the strongest person I know."

"Then how do you know for sure?" He asked, with the smallest amount of amusement heard in his voice.

Kotori remained silent. Now that she thought about it, how did she know for sure?

An awkward silence settled over the two, but Kotori didn't seem to notice.

"I just do," she muttered, a sense of finality heard in her tone.


	4. Necessity or Want

"So, I have to stay at your house?" Kotori questioned.

Gaara nodded.

"The Council found it my fault that you nearly died, so I have to take responsibility of you while you're here and escort you back to Konoha once you can travel," he replied, impassive to something Kotori found fairly tedious.

"How troublesome," she murmured.

"You think so," he stated, not asked, not taking his eyes off her. Kotori refused to look at him. Why, she wasn't sure, "why do you not look at me."

Another statement that was supposed to be a question, Kotori noted. She guessed he didn't have the amount of emotion to make questions sound like questions.

"I don't know, don't ask," she murmured. Gaara's lip curled upwards ever-so slightly.

"Can you walk," he stated, staring at her.

"Of course," Kotori laughed, throwing off the blanket from her body and standing up. She finally stared at the red-haired boy, to find him staring at her intently. What she didn't realise, was the hint of amusement playing on his lips.

"Standing and walking are two different things," he uttered, hiding the smile that wished to show. Kotori huffed, then walked towards him, only to have her legs give out.

Before she could hit the ground, she felt the firm, grainy and slightly ticklish, feeling of the sand wrap around her hips and waist.

"If you couldn't walk, you should have said so, it would've saved trouble," he stated, his arms crossed over his chest.

"I thought I could," she murmured dismally, relying on his sand to keep her upright.

"You have to stay at my house until you can travel," Gaara restated, still unfazed by the news he had delivered.

Kotori raised an eyebrow.

"And you don't mind?" She questioned.

"I don't care," he confirmed, "the council won't be happy with me, if I didn't. I want to be the Kazekage someday, so I have to keep them happy."

"What's the point?" Kotori questioned, "the Kages are just a bunch of people who give commands. I guess, if you like power, then it's fine, but, they're not much of a big deal," she murmured, shrugging.

"The Kages run the country, they protect the villagers and everyone else living there. They have to make educated decisions. The village and country rely on them not to lead them to destruction. They're one of the most important people in the world," Gaara stated, amused by her ignorance.

Kotori shrugged.

"Do what you want. Whatever it is, I don't care," she replied, "but at least you know how people feel about them."

"Or what you, in particular, feel about them," he stated, unfazed by her reply.

Kotori shrugged again.

-/-/-/-/-/-

"Here's your room," Gaara uttered, opening the door and letting his sand drop her down on a decent-sized bed.

"Oof," Kotori murmured, once her head hit the pillow. She rolled onto her back, making sure not to fall off the bed and gripped the white, cotton bedsheets, as she sat on the edge of the bed, her legs dangling from the side, her feet not touching the floor, " why is this bed so high?"

Gaara stared at her indifferently.

"I don't know," he replied, "most people have beds this high here. It could just be that you're short," he said, hiding his amusement.

"I'm not that short!" she exclaimed. Gaara's lips curled upwards slightly.

Kotori shrugged once she didn't hear him reply, then looked around the room. The bed was propped against a wall with a window beside it, situated at the opposite side of the room as the door. Even if she were to lie down, she could see outside the window. Not that there was much to see; sandy streets and houses dominated the view outside, and a small group of children played amongst themselves, oblivious to the 16-year-old kunoichi watching them. The sound of their laughter drifted through the open window, reaching Kotori's ears, causing her to pull a cynical, yet wistful, face at the scene.

Kotori turned her head to look around the room again, before she'd start brooding. It was a decent size, with a small book shelf to the left of the door, which held around 30 books, and a bedside desk which had a lamp, a small vase of white orchids and a small jug of water with a glass standing beside it. The floor of the room was wooden and gleamed as if it had been rigorously cleaned and the walls were stark white. A bamboo wardrobe stood underneath the bookshelf and a set of matching drawers stood beside it. A full body mirror was propped against the wall opposite the wardrobe, the frame made of bamboo as well.

Gaara stood in the doorway, a fair distance away from Kotori, quietly observing her. However, it wasn't long until he saw her sprawled on the bed with her eyes closed, a small sliver of saliva escaping her parted lips. A small smile grazed his features. If anything, she was genuine, albeit slightly awkward and strange, he thought. But, most importantly, she was like him; how he was before he met Naruto. A small amount of Gaara's sand grazed her lips, wiping off the saliva and returning to his gourd. He soundlessly closed the door behind him, making sure to not wake her up from her sleep.

-/-/-/-/-/-

"Did she have it?" Kakashi questioned, flitting from tree to tree, Sakura beside him. She nodded.

"It was as you expected," she replied.

"No wonder she was defeated," he thought aloud.

"Wouldn't that have meant she would have been more powerful, though?" Sakura asked. Kakashi shook his head, ducking as a branch nearly came into contact with it. Birds chirped noisily, while the two continued jumping from tree to tree.

"Don't you remember what happened to Sasuke when he used it?" Kakashi asked. Sakura looked down forlornly, the memory of her friend and long-term crush excruciating to recall, "she probably didn't want to because of that. She doesn't believe those powers are hers, so she'd have wanted to defeat Gaara with what she knew was hers."

She nodded nostalgically reminiscing on memories and not paying attention to what Kakashi was saying.

-/-/-/-/-/-

"Hey, Gaara-kun, do you have paints, by any chance?" Kotori questioned, having awoken from her slumber an hour ago to find no one there and nothing to do. As she couldn't move her legs, she'd crawled out of her temporary room, using her elbows, to find Gaara walking down the corridor towards her room. Her head had painfully collided with the floor, when she'd tried to get off the bed; it continued to throb.

Gaara stared down at her, hiding his curiosity. However, before he answered, he made the sand wrap around her and placed her upright, the sand not letting go of her.

"Yes we do," he stated, staring intently at her. Kotori couldn't get herself to look him in the eye, something about his stare was slightly daunting and intimidating, so she looked through him, hoping he didn't notice. He did.

"Do you mind lending me them?" she asked.

Gaara nodded, his sand splitting off and opening the door of her room, while the other branch of sand continued holding her up. He made his sand move Kotori through the open door and cross the room to sit her down on her bed.

"You'd probably want a canvas as well," he uttered, standing in the doorway. Kotori shook her head.

"I don't need one," she replied. Gaara said nothing, trying to decipher what she could possibly want to do with paint by itself, then nodded and left, leaving the door slightly open.

While he was gone, Kotori stared up at the plain white ceiling, not thinking about anything in particular. Before she could focus on anything, he was back, holding a large set of paints and a fairly large palette. It was the first time he had stepped into the room. He set the two items on her bedside table and stood in front of her, staring at her, waiting for a response.

"Your mission is to babysit me, right?" she asked, staring up at him. If Gaara was surprised by what she said, he didn't show it.

"More or less," he replied.

"What rank is it?" she asked, curiosity evident in her voice. Gaara observed her with a cool stare, not entirely sure what to make of her.

"There's no rank," he replied finally. Kotori shrugged.

"I was hoping it would have been a B rank, or even an A or S rank," she murmured, "well, anyway, can you help me move around while I redecorate this boring room?"

"This is my house," he stated. Kotori raised an eyebrow.

"Yes?" she murmured.

"You're not going to ask permission," he uttered, as if commanding her not to and not asking her a question.

"No, because I'll be doing you a favour," Kotori laughed. Gaara just stared at her, wondering whether even the Hokage could stop her. He sighed, then made his sand wrap around her, "okay, so, you're going to have to guide me as I say. First off, we should start at the corner behind the door. Okay. Lower me down a bit. No, more! Okay. A little to the left. More... A bit more...no! You went too far left. A little to the right now..."

And so, the whole day was spent in aiding Kotori to repaint his guest room, even though he didn't particularly see anything wrong with said room.

-/-/-/-/-/-

Kotori lay sprawled on the floor, her choppy, hip-length silver hair messily pooled around her head, her chest and stomach pressed against the floor. Fairly quiet snoring escaped her lips and paints and paintbrushes were scattered around her sleeping frame. Gaara stood over her sleeping figure, commanding his sand to wrap around her. His sand picked her up and dropped her down on the bed.

He looked around the newly decorated room. To say he was surprised, was to say the least. The walls were now a soft shade of grey and a large bonsai tree was painted above the set of drawers, it covering half of the space of the wall. A dark grey dragon was depicted as flying down from clouds (that she had painted) to glare at the person lying on the bed, its facial expression showing rage and bloodlust towards said person. Its scales glimmered gold and silver, reflecting the light that hit it. After scrutinising/admiring the room, Gaara walked out of it, noiselessly closing the door behind him.

-/-/-/-/-/-

_"Now, how exactly will this experiment proceed," a raspy, menacing voice asked, chuckling afterwards, "maybe I should..."_

_A sharp needle slowly penetrated her stomach, instantly making her scream. The man twisted the needle deeper inside her, causing her screams to become more hysterical. He chuckled, watching her red blood steadily ooze out of the wound, staining the needle he was using and trickling down her stomach. He moved the needle out of the side of her stomach, as if stitching a quilt. A thread hung from the back of the needle; once he had moved the needle in and out of her stomach a few times, he slowly and deliberately pulled the needle out from the other end, the thin thread easily slicing through the tissue._

_"Stop," the small girl whimpered, tears spilling out of her eyes and down the side of her head, into her greasy silver hair. The man chuckled, but didn't say anything. The dim light of the room hid his face from view. A sole light shone onto her small figure, that was currently lying on a cold table, and her hysterically gasping breaths echoed around the barren room. A cool breeze drifted through the room, chilling the girl in torn rags. She felt a thin needle pierce a vein in her neck and, immediately, her body felt as if liquid fire had been injected into her bloodstream. Her screams reached new heights, filling every corner of the room; she couldn't even hear the man chuckle over her screams._

Kotori sat up in bed. Beads of sweat trickled down her face, sticking her hair to her neck. Her shoulders were tense and her breaths came out in short, ragged gasps, her eyes wide, portraying the terror she felt. Her body immediately relaxed and her breathing became calmer, once she realised it was just a dream. However, her eyes still portrayed the fear she felt and her heart continued pounding rapidly in her chest.

"Are you okay?" a quiet voice asked from the direction of the doorway. Kotori turned her head to see the red-haired boy that had almost killed her and nodded, closing her eyes and smiling at him. However, her smile was not convincing.

"I'm fine," she murmured, "nightmares are usual for any shinobi;" as she said this, she laughed softly, shaking her head.

Gaara smiled drily in his mind, knowing all too well. He nodded and stood in the door way, carefully observing her. Her eyes were cast to the ground, but flitted from left to right, not being able to be kept still. Her petit body was shivering, but ever-so slightly, that one might have missed it and she was wringing her hands, almost painfully. He deduced that whatever the girl had dreamt of, it must have been significantly terrifying to leave her in such a state and he didn't wish to intrude on her when she was like this. However, his brother and sister had told him, sometimes a person would want company to help them forget, or just to ease their mind. He wasn't entirely sure about this, but decided there was no harm in asking.

"Do you want me to stay?" he questioned, cursing himself for not finding a more subtle way of asking. Kotori looked up at him in surprise, then relaxed and smiled softly.

"That would be nice," she murmured, "but don't feel you have to; most people only talk to me out of necessity or fear."

Gaara walked into the dark room, the only source of light being the moonlight coming from the window, splashing onto the sitting figure. It made her hair shimmer, yet shrouded her face at the same time, her smouldering red eyes standing out in the darkness that surrounded her.

"I don't have to stay," he replied, "and I'm not afraid of you." He walked towards her sitting figure and sat at the base of her bed, staring at her intently. She stared through him, still finding his icy teal eyes intensely unnerving.

"Why do you stay, then," she murmured, finding his intentions unsatisfactory. Gaara continued staring at her intensely, waiting for her to look at him properly. A few seconds passed where neither said anything, until Kotori couldn't take it anymore and looked him dead in the eye. She regretted doing so, knowing that if she had been standing, she would have gone weak at the knees and fallen to the floor, because of the intensity of his gaze.

"Because I want to," he finally said, his quiet, uncaring voice reaching her ears and making her eyes water. She bit her lip to stop it from quivering and broke eye contact. A few strands of hair fell in front of her face, as she stared down at the floor. Not once did Gaara's gaze turn away from her.

* * *

**_Konbanwa readers! So, I'm still not sure about this story, but review and stuff and thank you to _**Inazuma Kaiten _**and**_December 25th _**for reviewing, it's much appreciated ='3 With nothing else to say, ja ne! (^.^)/**_


	5. Bath Time with Gaara-hime

"Arigato," she murmured. Gaara nodded, then looked away, staring at the floor.

The two remained in comfortable silence until a badly-stifled yawn escaped Kotori's lips. Gaara turned his gaze on her to find her looking sheepishly at him.

"Sorry," she laughed awkwardly. His lip twitched upwards in amusement and the two fell into a comfortable silence again, "you know, fighting you is pretty unfair; you don't have to run about, or anything, because your sand protects you. You're like a..." Kotori thought for a moment, while Gaara stared at her with hidden curiosity, "a princess...because you get your little puppets, as in your sand, to do your work for you," Kotori murmured seeming thoroughly pleased with herself.

Gaara's eyes narrowed ever-so slightly, so much so that Kotori missed it.

"Gaara-hime..." she murmured, then smirked.

"Don't call me that," he replied.

"Why?" she questioned innocently, then added, "Gaara-hime," the smirk never leaving her face. His eyes narrowed ever-so slightly more, then he shook his head, getting up.

"Go to sleep," he stated monotonously, not looking at her. Kotori raised an eyebrow.

"Don't get moody, now Gaara-hime, it's an honour to be given such an honorific," she said teasingly. Gaara sighed.

"Go to sleep, Kotori-san," he said again. Kotori huffed.

"Fine, fine," she murmured, lying back down on the bed and staring at the dragon that was staring right back at her, "I'm glad I can paint; it's the only thing I can do, besides fighting." she mumbled absently, already falling asleep.

Gaara turned his head to look at her over his shoulder, then, when he found her snoring, he looked ahead of him, walking out of the room and leaving the door slightly open, in case something were to happen again.

Outside the window, an owl perched on the roof of the adjacent building. It hooted eerily, the white feathers glinting silver in the moonlight. It turned its head all the way around, then opened its small wings, flying off to find its prey.

During the darkest hour of the night, while everything was calm and still and only the few insomniac people were out and about, a meeting of great significance was held, one that would shape the world.

Morning arrived with the chirping of verdins and the cawing of parrots. Kotori yawned and stretched underneath the bedsheets, not willing to get up just yet. Sunlight hit her hiding frame with warm, intensely bright light. A quiet knocking on the door was heard and, when Kotori didn't respond to it, whoever it was behind the door opened it, a creaking sound echoing through the room. The scent of boiled rice and grilled fish flooded the room, causing her stomach to grumble, yet she chose to ignore it, since she felt she had not slept enough yet.

"Go away," the muffled voice of Kotori called out lazily.

"It's afternoon now, you need to get up; I can't have you sleeping all day. Especially since you haven't eaten anything since yesterday evening," Gaara's monotonous voice travelled through the air, seeming to fail in reaching Kotori's ears.

The scents of breakfast reached her nose, causing her stomach to grumble even more, yet she continued to ignore it, to which her stomach responded to by grumbling even more, as if to say "why do you do this to me?".

"Go away," she repeated, curling into herself. Gaara sighed quietly, then threw off the covers from her to find her small figure curled up in the tightest of balls. He easily lifted her up and threw her over his shoulder, Kotori going limp and still refusing to open her eyes.

"Whatever you do, I'm still going to sleep," her drowsy voice mumbled from over his shoulder. She pressed her cheek against his back, causing Gaara to stiffen at the contact for a split second, then relax again.

"We'll see," he simply replied, walking out of the room and down the brightly lit pale white corridor. The journey to wherever it was he was taking her was not in the least comfortable, but Kotori didn't care, she wanted to sleep.

It wasn't long until Gaara stopped walking. He opened a door, from the sound of things, then walked inside. Kotori was then dropped into something strikingly cold. She sat inside this cold thing and rested her head to the side, feeling the biting sensation on her cheek.

"Cold..." she mumbled, still not opening her eyes.

"Take a bath. I'll be back to get you soon, seeing as you didn't pay attention to where exactly in my house you are. If you've not bathed before I come back, you'll regret it," he stated, walking out of the bathroom and letting the door close behind him.

"I don't regret anything," Kotori mumbled to her self, "nothing at all," she repeated in the same tone. Memories of blood and torn flesh flashed in her mind, causing her to immediately open her eyes. Kotori stared down at her clothes, not wishing to know who changed her into them. She wore plain loose-fitting white trousers and a plain loose-fitting blood red shirt, probably because it was too hot to wear the reasonably tight clothing she normally did. She didn't want to think about anything. Why on earth would her mind do this to her? At least Gaara wasn't here to witness this, she thought to herself...

She got up and got out of the tub she was so rudely dumped into, then took off everything she wore, taking in the splendour that was Gaara's bathroom. It was a strange shape; opposite the door, the wall curved to meet two straight ones. The bathroom itself was a stark white, like most of his house and the ofuro she had been sitting in earlier was situated right in the middle of the room, it taking up most of the space, due to its size. Plain white shelves were randomly situated around the room, intricately floral designs carved into the wood. It wasn't that the bathroom wasn't impressive; it definitely was, it was just that it was plain, which put Kotori on edge.

Pushing the feeling aside, she turned on the hot and cold water taps of the ofuro and, too impatient to wait, walked down the steps into it. While the water rose, she turned the taps up and down to adjust the temperature (and also because she had nothing better to do). When the water was filled to the top, Kotori dunked her head in and started waddling and wading in the mini swimming pool.

"I hate boredom," she murmured to herself, "I hate waiting, I hate people, I hate Konoha...I don't hate Gaara-hime...not as much as everyone else," she thought aloud, "but I fucking. Hate. EVERYTHING." she screamed the last word, the frustration starting to get to her and she had no idea why. It was as if her angst was now coming out, after all those years of shoving it aside. She wondered why this was so, yet didn't think for long, because she became grouchy with herself for thinking too much. Suddenly, she realised what she'd said, "I don't hate Gaara, huh," she murmured.

Suddenly the door burst open, slamming loudly against the wall.

"I kne-" Gaara started.

"GET OUT NOW," Kotori screamed, hugging her chest. Gaara's eyes widened, before he stumbled out of the bathroom, awkwardly closing the door behind him.

Outside the bathroom stood a blushing Gaara. He didn't mean to walk in on her bathing; he didn't even expect her to listen to him! She didn't even lock the door; what person doesn't lock the door?! Kotori, his mind answered immediately. He sighed, then walked away.

Inside the bathroom, was a fuming and blushing Kotori. What person enters the bathroom without knocking, when they know someone is inside?!

...Maybe she does hate him as much as the rest of the human population, she thought.

"Why me?" she asked, her voice angst-filled, yet embarrassed. She punched the side of the ofuro, causing her hand to throb, "baka," she murmured, not entirely sure whether she was calling herself or Gaara that, while she held her throbbing hand.

Kotori bathed for another several minutes, then got out and, finding no towels available, formed hand seals and dried herself off using the air element. She grabbed her clothes and put them on again, then opened the door and walked out.

"Oi, Gaara-hime," Kotori called out, but got no reply. The door slammed close behind, Kotori staring at it from the corner of her eye, but not being able to see the door. She sighed, then walked down the corridor, hoping to find him on the way. With a start, Kotori realised she could walk again, causing her to grin and walk faster. As time went by and she found she had taken so many twists and turns, Kotori broke into a jog, then, a few seconds later, a run. She decided that she'd be able to comb the house faster in order to find Gaara if she ran. Besides, she felt good being able to use her legs again, even though it was only a day.

"Gaara-hime!" Kotori shouted, continuing to run down the endless corridor.

As she rounded a corner, a figure appeared and, because she couldn't stop herself, she came colliding into said figure, both falling to the floor.

"Ouch..." Kotori mumbled, resting her hand on something firm, yet soft, in order to help her get up.

"Why were you running?" A voice from underneath her questioned monotonously.


End file.
